Henry Carter Hull

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is publishing a monthly series of e-only essays to correspond with Katherine Paterson's two-year term as the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. The subjects of the essays include: writing and literature for young people, the wonder and imagination found within great books, common questions novice writers ask, and Katherine's own personal experiences throughout her historic career.

Since mankind exists, we have felt the need to communicate, to express our feelings, to cultivate our imagination and we have done it through a gift that differentiates us from the rest of living beings. Writing is a vocation, born from a need of each person. It is an inner manifestation, a communicational expression, be it artistic, scientific or of another literary genre. It is a property of the human being, communication through writing. This means...

The Art & Craft of the Short Story explores every key element of short fiction, including story structure and form; creative and believable characters; how to begin and where to end; and the generation of ideas; as well as technical aspects such as point of view; plot; description and imagery; and theme. Examples from the work of a wide variety are used. The author includes five of his own stories to demonstrate these topics.

In her book In the company of children, Joanne Hindley invites you inside her third-grade New York City classroom to "have a look" as she describes her reading and writing workshops. Joanne extends the invitation once again through a series of four video programs that give you a close-up look at mini-lessons and conferences during those workshops. In the two programs on reading mini-lessons and writing mini-lessons, she explores and rethinks the resources,...

The most important skill you can have in any field or subject is the ability to express yourself with eloquence and confidence in writing. The tools and rules needed are simple and easy to remember. Learn everything you need to know to write engaging and informative essays, stories and research papers. Find ways to take the writing skills you have learned in school and apply them to real world tasks, be they work related or personal.

Publishing two books, selling film rights, and being in TIME magazine- these kind of seem like pipe dreams. However, this is actually the life story of Beth Reekles, the famous 17-year-old writer. Being a successful writer at a young age is no longer a pipe dream, and this book can help make it your reality. With a bit of humor and a conversationally quirky tone, this book shows the young adult audience how to write a killer query letter and book...

Here is the story of Christy Mahon, hailed as a hero (and an immediate object of romantic attention) for his claim to have killed his cruel father. However, when he finds out his father survived, Mahon attempts to murder him a second time. Will he succeed? Considered Synge's masterpiece, this play was viewed as indecent and met with riots when first performed.

"A successful book starts with a great book proposal. Tired of being rejected by publishers and agents? The problem probably isn't your book--it's your book proposal. Give your book proposal a professional makeover in just five days with insider 's advice from the publishers themselves! Based on a template developed by editors at one of the world's largest publishers, Complete Your Book Proposal in 5 Days is your step-by-step guide to writing and...

First published in 1899, this graphic depiction of urban American life centers around its title character, McTeague, a dentist practicing in San Francisco at the turn of the century. While at first content with his life and friendship with an ambitious man named Marcus, McTeague eventually courts and marries Trina, a frugal young woman who wins a large sum of money in a lottery. The greed of the majority of the characters in the novel creates a chain...

An unparalleled example of Gothic romance, Radcliffe's novel portrays the multitude of misfortunes heaped upon the admirable French heroine, Emily St. Aubert. Losing first her mother, then her beloved father, the orphaned Emily must be separated from her newfound love Valancourt to live with her aunt and new guardian, Madame Cheron. Emily then faces the evil machinations of her aunt's husband, the Italian brigand Signor Montoni, who imprisons the...